"Song Bing, it's Song Bing!" Lu Cheng immediately shouted in a low voice, with an expression on his face as if he had seen a ghost: "Why did Song Bing come here?"
Zhao Tong looked solemnly and looked down the city. He saw the team of men and horses stopped a stone's throw away from the city. Although he could see the shape of the opponent's armor from this distance, he could not see the face of the leading general clearly. Who brought this team.
Lu Cheng's expression was extremely ugly. He called a few soldiers around him and said hurriedly: "Immediately go to the palace and the Prime Minister's Mansion to deliver a message, saying that the Song army has arrived at the city... there are about two to three thousand cavalry!"
Several soldiers took the order and ran quickly to the city. Lu Cheng wiped the sweat from his head and looked at Zhao Tao: "General Li, why do you think this Song army came to Luzhou? This shouldn't be the case. There are people on all three roads. With our army, especially on the east route, if General Duan Wu had discovered the Song army just a few days after setting off, he would have sent detective horses back to report it."
Zhao Tong took a few steps forward. Although he still couldn't see clearly the face of the leader of the forbidden army, he could see the flag next to the torch, raised high and drawing three circles in a row.
His heart suddenly relaxed, and he said slowly: "General Lu, could it be that something happened to General Duan Wu, so that the Song army could come to Luzhou?"
Lu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and then said: "This is also possible, otherwise this is a lone army, and coming here would mean death!"
Zhao Tong said: "General Duan Wu left with ten thousand soldiers. If something happens to so many people, then Marshal Gong Duan..."
Having said this, Zhao Tong looked at Lu Cheng.
Lu Cheng immediately shivered and said, "General Li, do you mean that Marshal Gong was defeated?"
Zhao Tong shook his head and said: "I didn't say that. It's just that the Song soldiers went deep into the army alone. Where did they get the courage? The military situation ahead is definitely not optimistic."
Lu Cheng gritted his teeth and suddenly said fiercely: "I don't believe it anymore. The Song army was so weak before. We defeated it twice when we attacked. What's so surprising about this time? The Prime Minister said that the Song army was so weak." It’s no different from before, so there’s nothing to worry about. If this Song army doesn’t care about life and death and dares to show off its power, there will be no return for it!”
Zhao Tao looked at him and said: "The Prime Minister is right. The Song Army must still be the same Song Army. Even if the commander has changed, the fighting will definitely be different from before."
Lu Chengdao: "General Li said that Qi King Zhao Yu? Didn't he say that this man was under twenty years old and was just bluffing?"
Zhao Tao shook his head and sighed softly: "It's hard to say in court, but I have been to Tokyo and heard that the king of Qi, Zhao Tao, is a rare young talent with a military strategy and a jade tree facing the wind!"
Lu Cheng was stunned and said, "Is this really true?"
Zhao Tong nodded and said: "That's the case, General Lu, think about it, who can be accepted as a personal disciple by Zhou Tong, how can he be an ordinary person? That Grandmaster Zhou is a proud prince. If he doesn't have real skills, let alone The prince, even if he is the prince, he will not take a second look..."
"Go ahead!" Lu Cheng thought for a while and said, "That's true. What Grandmaster Zhou is interested in is not just an ordinary person!"
"That's the truth." Zhao Tong nodded and said: "So the Song army outside the city definitely didn't come here to show off their power and die because of their hot heads. I guess there must be changes in the front!"
Lu Cheng said: "According to this, let's not mention Marshal Gong for the moment, but something must have happened to General Duan Wu?"
Zhao Tong said: "I guess so. Otherwise, if the 10,000-strong army on the east road were marching north, how could these Song troops come over? General Lu, be careful. These are cavalry. They can't cross mountains and ridges, unlike infantry who can walk." The trails are sneaking up, these cavalry can only take the main roads!”
Lu Cheng touched his stubble-covered face and asked in surprise, "What happened to the five generals during that period?"
Zhao Tong shook his head and sighed: "Yes, what happened to General Duan Wu?"
The two looked at each other. Lu Cheng couldn't believe in his heart that Duan Wu and his 10,000 troops were quietly wiped out by the other party just a few days after leaving. But if not, the appearance of these Song troops in front of him There is no way to explain it.
At this moment, a soldier suddenly said: "General, general, they are leaving!"
"Leaving?" Lu Cheng looked down the city and saw that the two to three thousand Song Army cavalry actually turned their horses and ran away into the distance. It didn't take long before they completely disappeared into the darkness.
But the more this happened, the heavier Lu Cheng's heart became, and he couldn't help but said: "General Li, I want to go into the palace to see the king, can you come with me?"
Zhao Tong shook his head and said: "We can't let anything go wrong in Beicheng. Only one of us can leave at this moment. If we both leave, it would be inappropriate if the Song army comes back to harass us!"
Lu Cheng gritted his teeth and said: "This is a serious matter. I must meet with the king to inform you. Since General Li is the defense envoy of Luzhou, he can also guard the city gate. I will help General Li suppress it here for a while. I will go to the palace." Come back after reporting!"
Zhao Tong looked at him and said: "It's okay to suppress Beicheng on behalf of General Lu, but General Lu must leave quickly, otherwise if something happens, if I can't make the decision and cause any trouble, it will be General Lu's responsibility!"
When Lu Cheng heard this, he thought to himself that although Li Fei was very skilled in martial arts, he was unwilling to take responsibility, but whatever, even if the cavalry that just ran away came back, they probably wouldn't be able to cause much trouble. After all, there were only two or three thousand People, without vehicles and baggage, can't attack the city at all. They can just go back home.
He cupped his fists at Zhao Tong and said, "If something really happens, I won't drag General Li down!"
Zhao Tong said: "That's good. General Lu, go and come back quickly."
Lu Cheng turned around and walked down the city wall. Zhao Tong watched his back disappear, then came to the edge of the stack again, looked at the vast night in the distance, and fell into deep thought.
Although he didn't know who the general of the cavalry team just now was, since the other party had signaled, everything was in his calculations.
Two days ago in the morning, he sent Huang Gu out.
Although it was uncertain whether Zongze would send troops to attack Luzhou, he always had to be prepared so that Zongze would not really send troops and lose contact with the inside and outside.
He asked Huang Gu to hide and wait on Luzhou East Road. If the Song army really came, he would contact him and describe the situation in the city, and then find a way to inform him.
As for how to inform himself, he and Huang Gu agreed that in the future, he would stay at the top of the North City for a period of time at midnight so that if an army came, he could send out flags outside the city.
As for how to raise the flags and what each action represents, Zhao Tong and Huang Gu had already discussed these. Flags on the battlefield are complicated. If it is a specially agreed flag, outsiders cannot see the specific meaning.
Moreover, the flags set by Zhao Tong and Huang Guding were relatively simple, with no special movements or any tricks.
For example, the Song Army flag outside the city just now drew three circles. First, Zhao Tong knew that Huang Gu had contacted the other party, and secondly, the other party had come with more than 3,000 cavalry.
In this way, Zhao Tong knew in his mind that Huang Gu would inform the other party of the general situation in Luzhou City, including any positions in his family and the rights he held. He would even inform the other party about the presence of his own people at the West City Gate.
As for what plan the other party will draw up to attack Luzhou, they will also give a rough outline of the signal again at the right time, so that both sides know what they are doing.
Zhao Tong stood at the top of the city and did not move for a long time. The city was now as empty as a field. Since Duan Wu led his troops away, there were no more troops stationed outside the city. All the rebel troops had retreated into the city. Only scouts were sent out every day to look around. .
But now it seems that at least the scouts on the east road have been discovered and killed, otherwise the three thousand cavalry would not have been able to run directly to Luzhou City.
As for what was going on with Duan Wu, Zhao Tong actually couldn't tell. However, Wang Qing did not receive the military report sent back by Duan Wu, and Gong Duan's military report did not mention Duan Wu. It is possible that the two did not meet up.
Just as Zhao Tong was deep in thought, rapid footsteps suddenly came from behind.
He turned around and saw many people coming up from the city. The leader was Prime Minister Li Zhu, followed by Duan Er, Fan Quan and other ministers of the court.
There was no expression on Li Zhu's face, which was completely different from the usual warm spring breeze. He quickly came to the battlement and looked out.
Zhao Tong said: "Prime Minister!"
Li Zhu glanced down and said, "General Li, Song Bing left and never came back?"
Zhao Tong said: "I haven't come back since, and I haven't seen anyone staying to investigate secretly!"
Li Zhu nodded: "I underestimated Zhao Tong, but I didn't expect him to be able to reach Luzhou."
Zhao Tong twitched his eyebrows and stepped aside.
Duan Er said: "Prime Minister, today I received a battle report from Gong Duan, saying that Duan Wu was not seen. I thought that Luzhou is not far from Shouzhou. Gong Duan's army is stationed halfway, and there must be scouts looking around, so what? Wouldn’t you even notice the shadow of Duan Wu’s army?”
After hearing this, Li Zhu thought for a moment and said: "There is no way to speculate on this matter. The important thing now is how to deal with the Song army outside the city!"
Fan Quan said: "The Song army of two to three thousand people is not enough to cause a problem. We can just go out to the city at dawn tomorrow to search and kill them."
Fang Han on the side shook his head and said: "How do you know that the other party really only has two or three thousand people? Don't forget that Gong Duan and others were ambushed. Maybe these two or three thousand people are just bait."
Fan Quan thought for a moment and said, "What does Privy Council Fang think should be done?"
Fang Han said: "Anyway, don't leave the city easily. It's best to wait until the scouts find out what's going on outside the city and the number of enemy soldiers before making a plan."
Fan Quan shook his head and said, "Wouldn't that mean we just let the other party arrange things outside the city?"
Fang Han said: "Since there are scouts on horseback, how can we let the other party arrange it?"
Li Zhu said: "Don't fight anymore, the Song army will not come again tonight, just go back and rest first, and prepare the army for war tomorrow morning!"
After hearing this, everyone stopped talking, looked outside for a while, and then filed into the city.
At this moment, a dozen miles away from Luzhou City, a group of cavalry was resting.
There are no big mountains in the north of Luzhou, but there are many hills and hills, which go on and on without end.
The cavalry was resting in the woods on the hill. In a temporary tent, the three of them were talking to each other.
The leader was a man with a broad build, a square face, thick eyebrows and beard, and bright eyes.
The second person is a young man, wearing a bright silver armor, with handsome appearance and delicate eyebrows.
The last person was Huang Gu, who came out of Luzhou City two days ago.
The leader said: "Brother Huang, could you clearly see that the prince is at the top of the city just now?"
Huang Gu nodded and said: "This is not wrong. If you look at the soldiers and horses below the city from the city, you will definitely not be able to recognize us. But when you look at the city from below, it is different. The prince and I have been growing up since we were young. We can recognize each other just by looking at our bodies. .”
The leader seemed to be relieved and said: "It's good that you are the prince. This time the Zong Supervisory Army sent me out to contact the prince. Now that I see it, I feel relieved."
Huang Gu said: "General Wang, when will the army come over?"
The leader said: "The battle ahead is going smoothly. According to the arrangement of the Zong Supervisor Army, Gong Duan's team has been cut apart. I am afraid that they will press forward in three to five days. As expected, Gong Duan will be defeated. Retreat, and then the Zong Supervisory Army pursues them step by step, heading straight to Luzhou."
The young man on the side also said: "Duan Wu's team has been led by us for a few days. At this time, I am afraid that we are in a dilemma. We want to continue to join Gong Duan. We are behind them again. If they want to chase us, they have to come out." We will turn around and go back to Luzhou in two days."
The leader smiled and said: "It's Jing Ren's plan, otherwise it would be difficult to reach Luzhou City so quickly."
Huang Gu looked at the young man and said with a smile: "The young man has been studying military literature with the prince for a long time, and he is already very resourceful."
The young man blushed slightly when he heard this and said, "Whatever Xian is capable of, it's all because of his good teaching."
The young man was none other than Zhang Xian. He was now an envoy of the ninth battalion of the Longwei Army.
The tall, broad man at the head of the army was actually the infantry commander, Yuhou Wangzhen. However, before the army set off for the expedition, he also served as the commander of the left wing of the Dragon Guard Army.
Wang Zhen's trip to Luzhou was mainly to contact Zhao Yu, and he brought the first to tenth commanders of the left wing of the Long Guard with him.
In the Dragon Guard Army, only two commanders, Nine and Ten, had a strength of 500. At that time, Zhao Yan went to Longyou and selected people from each battalion to fill these two commanders. In fact, the Ma Army's command was larger than that of the Infantry Army. With less than fifty people, these two conductors were somewhat overstaffed.
As for the remaining commanders of the Dragon Guard, there are no more than 300 people at most. Due to empty pay and lack of horses, it is impossible to fully staff them. However, in the past two years, Zhao Tao has been holding the Dragon Guard's four compartments for training, especially the Dragon Guard. The ninth and tenth commanders took these two with them when they went out. They trained to death during training. This was also the reason why Zhang Xian was thrown into the ninth commander.
Originally, Zhang Xian was not qualified to sit in the tent due to his official position, but everyone in the army knew more or less about the relationship between Zhang Xian and Zhao Tao, especially the big drill by the Yellow River last winter. It was obvious that Zhao Tao was deliberately cultivating This young man.
During the drill last winter, Zhao Tong also specifically hinted Zhang Xian to learn the art of city defense from Wang Zhen. Since then, the two have become very close.
This time, Wang Zhen brought ten commanders to Luzhou and specially called Zhang Xian from the army to follow him.
They rushed to Luzhou from the east. After meeting Duan Wu, they started to lead them in a roundabout way. Unfortunately, although Duan Wu led a team of 10,000 people, the majority of them were infantry.
Although Wang Zhen's three thousand cavalry had ordinary combat power, they were better at coming and going like the wind. After a few hits, they ran away, leading Duan Wu by the nose. As a result, Zhang Xian came up with another plan, going around and directly killing Duan Wu. Duan Wu was stunned, and finally ran behind Duan Wu, and then ran all the way to Luzhou, where he met Huang Gu again.
After the two parties talked, they rushed to the city at midnight and sent out flags to contact Zhao Tong.
(End of chapter)
